A Few Tips From A Slow Loser - Now Past Goal -

[Lovingit 3]

Hi Brenda from arkansas,

I m LovingIt from Dubai and I think you recounted my story...i lost my 40 pounds in first 6 mnths and now 5 mnths later only 8 pounds so in total 11 mnths of surgery it is only 48 pounds...

and yes i feel i can eat a lot before i start feeling restricted...and then i just throw up...and i eat more...it is terrible yes...

only good thing i m doing is exercising...in some ways i m happy with teh band that i can eat watever i want ....albeit in small qunatities compared to earlier...n still maintain my weight and also lose it ...very slowly though...

but when i read about other people losing hundreds of pounds in less than a year i start worrying...

but yes i am going to start the Protein diet now...i love fish...so it is a fish dinner for me from now on...lets c what happens...

my advice to u...think of it as an aid to ur will power...

[health4life 0]

Thanks for sharing this. As a new bander, this information will greatly help me. You have really great tips... but what kinda exercise did you do during this way of eating?

LENGTH ALERT! (This has very detailed tips and tricks, so this is not a short post. Just a "heads up")

People asked me a lot how I went from Slow Loser to getting to goal. I did better my second year of banding and when the weight came off - it really came off.

This is something that worked for me, and I recommended to other Bandsters.

Granted, these are tips that's not in any LapBand brochure or doctor's manual, and YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY - but if you already think of yourself as a Slow Loser like I was, then maybe you will be open to trying something to shake things up a bit.

When I needed a weight-loss push, I didn't cut down on calories much (if I'd recently had a fill adjustment, that's different) but in general:

I *added* Protein to every thing I ate.

This helped me to lose steadily (although it sped up my weight loss, more importantly it kept it steady). And it worked! Some Bandsters in my same banding date were better at counting calories - I wasn't. Some were better at counting carbs, I wasn't, but I excelled at ADDING Protein. And I did well and later, other fellow Bandsters were asking me for help and tips. :frown:

How did I do it? I did not reduce calories or the amount I consumed (without a fill it wasn't much need to try that) and yet, I still lost. (I added a little bit of Beans, or a sprinkle of cheese (my favorite), or eggs - whatever I could. I didn't reduce what I ate, but I "upped my protein" - and it worked.

With the band, if you eat more protein, you generally will find yourself eating less overall - it doesn't feel that way but you do.

Every single time I added more protein to my regular Band-friendly meals, I lost more weight, even though I wasn't eating less calories sometimes. Sounds crazy - but in my particular case, if I didn't keep my protein levels up, my body held on to calories a lot more. Who needs their bodies "hoarding" calories? :biggrin:

If adding a bit of food meant I would lose more, it was worth a try. It worked.

And I paid attention to the TYPE of protein I ate. (Even before banding, I didn't eat beef or pork at all. And the band was developed in other countries where the pork and beef consumption is a lot lower than it is here in the 'States. I'm not a vegetarian, I just eat seafood and poultry only. My doc said this helped my weight loss a lot because the protein I ate was leaner, not fattier protein like pork/ham/bacon or beef/hamburger/fatty red meat. So I didn't have to regulate my portions as much as some Bandsters did. My can of tuna did more for me than a hamburger ever would have.)

Also, I'm a single/childless Bandster who lives alone, so I eat out for almost every meal. If I could make it to goal - while eating out - ANYBODY can.

How did I do it? Here were some tips.

• At Breakfast, with my morning egg(s), I added a bit of cheese on top. Or I would have cottage cheese added. For protein and hunger reasons, cottage cheese did better than yogurt for me - unless I just had a fill or was very very filled or adjusted. The most filled I am, the less I eat in the mornings. So especially if you are not at your sweet spot, try Proteins that "stick" with you more to keep hunger away. Yogurt alone was not good enough of a Breakfast for me, with the band it just went through, and wasn't really filling. Now if I charged up my yogurt with lots of nuts, seeds, and wheat germ - then BAM! I'm not much of a cold Cereal eater (I prefer hot cereals) but if I had one I made sure it was a protein-packed one (I LOVE Grape Nuts Cereal best. Go Lean is awesome, and several of the Oatmeals & Cream of Wheat cereals have good protein content. I also added a few nuts to those, too. If I had a yogurt smoothie drink as a snack, I had them had a half scoop of Protein powder (a full scoop can make it too thick sometimes) or some soy or nuts.
  
• Lunchtime was easy to get more protein in. I'd eat a scoop of tuna salad or chicken salad for lunch - and have them add some shredded cheese, some seeds and/or some nuts. I also love Soup. Usually a cup is a nice start to my lunch if I'm having a scoop of salad or tuna. If it's my whole lunch I get a bowl of Soup and eat what I can from it. My band will tell me when to stop. Almost any kind of any soup is great with a sprinkle of cheese or nuts added. Beans, too!
  
• With my dinner I always like a cup of soup to begin. Gets me going, jump starts & 'primes' my band and it's a great protein opportunity. Then if I could, I concentrated on seafood. ANY type of fish worked great with my band - From catfish to salmon to snapper to Tilapia. Or even shrimp or my all time favorite, calamari. I enjoy oysters in season and clams all year. The weeks that I ate more seafood, I lost more weight - across the board. Usually grilled is a good choice to be honest I even ate it fried (sorry, weight loss experts) and I still did well. And with my seafood, if I could I added beans to almost everything. With my steamed veggies, I added nuts and a sprinkle of cheese sometimes. I know it's not very It really does work!
  
  

See when I restrict my calories or even when I try to cut down on fat - I usually just end up cutting down on protein. And no matter how "well" or how much less I eat, if I cut my protein my body won't 'burn' up the fat. It holds on to it. I know that protein is the fuel that helps the LapBand machine work and not trying to diet or 'cut down' was a blessing to me.

I've had other Bandsters try this, and yes they are skeptical at first but when they start seeing inches lost (muscle really does weigh more than fat, so your clothes tell you before the scale ever will) then they get on the bandwagon. So don't just 'cut down' - ADD some food on your plate. That's right. ADD MORE nuts, boiled/diced egg, beans, cheese, seeds and other yummy forms of protein. Your body and your LapBand will thank you for it. Also adding protein allowed me to eat fewer carbs and save them for what was really a nice treat - a nice martini or occasional glass of wine, with dinner. Yes, I'm a drinking Bandster. All the successful European Bandsters I knew drank a glass or two now and then and they were my role models. I can't drink a lot AT ALL - a little goes a long way, but it was nice to get to goal weight without ever missing a Friday Happy Hour. I got the band to enhance my life, not take away some of the things that make it enjoyable. I eat out at restaurants, I go have drinks with friends - and I feel and look great. BRAVO!

Good Luck to you. (And since so many people asked me the same question in private posts - that's why I am posting it on the Slow Losers board too...)

Keep up the good fight. I did it - and you can too.

[marthie66 1]

There has to be some truth to this about getting enough Protein because when I talked to the nurse at my doctor's office and told them I hadn't lost a pound in more than two weeks they told me to be sure I was getting enough protein~~~~thanks for sharing, it was very reassuring!!!!

[daymi 0]

To tell you the truth i am so unhappy with the lapband,, this is the worse mistake i ever done in my whole life... I lost 18 lbs and that it and that was when i eas on liquid diet... And anybody doing a liquid diet would loose that with having this bullet in your belly.

And every time i go get a fill, the doctor says go back to liquid diet and i promise youll loose weight,, and i just hate that...cause if i can do that i dont need the lapband.. I had lapband done cause i could not loose the weight on my own.

Im so up set...

[health4life 0]

Do you have restriction? If your Dr. is telling you to go back on a liquid diet for the first day after a fill, that is to allow time for the swelling from the fill to go down, not permanent. Our band is ONLY a tool by which we lose weight. It does not do ALL the work for you; you must work also. Some things to assess:

• Attitude (is everything)
  
• Band restriction
  
• Diet (low carb/high protein)
  
• Exercise (Cardio and Strength at least 30 min per day)
  

If you can honestly say you have a grip on ALL of the above, you may have a legitimate argument. Be honest with yourself. I have lost 20 lbs between the pre-op diet and post-op with little to no exercise because I'm just 8 days post-op. I haven't had a fill yet but certainly cannot take in the amounts of food as I did before. There are way too many people on here who have had much success with the band; some easy and fast, some hard and slow. The answer lies within you, how hard will you work for what you want to achieve? Only you know. I wish you much success. Don't give up, persevere and see this to the end. :thumbup:

To tell you the truth i am so unhappy with the lapband,, this is the worse mistake i ever done in my whole life... I lost 18 lbs and that it and that was when i eas on liquid diet... And anybody doing a liquid diet would loose that with having this bullet in your belly.

And every time i go get a fill, the doctor says go back to liquid diet and i promise youll loose weight,, and i just hate that...cause if i can do that i dont need the lapband.. I had lapband done cause i could not loose the weight on my own.

Im so up set...

[GALapband 0]

Thank you so much for all of this great advice!! I have been banded for 2 years and the first year I did pretty well, losing 60 pounds, but the second year I have not lost an ounce! I know I'm snacking too much but it's from that darn head hunger that the lap band cannot seem to control, I guess that part is up to me! I have added carbs back into my diet and that seems to have slowed me up. I will take your advice and make sure to add Protein to every meal. Thanks again!

Ami

[marthie66 1]

Do you have restriction? If your Dr. is telling you to go back on a liquid diet for the first day after a fill, that is to allow time for the swelling from the fill to go down, not permanent. Our band is ONLY a tool by which we lose weight. It does not do ALL the work for you; you must work also. Some things to assess:

• Attitude (is everything)
  
• Band restriction
  
• Diet (low carb/high protein)
  
• Exercise (Cardio and Strength at least 30 min per day)
  

If you can honestly say you have a grip on ALL of the above, you may have a legitimate argument. Be honest with yourself. I have lost 20 lbs between the pre-op diet and post-op with little to no exercise because I'm just 8 days post-op. I haven't had a fill yet but certainly cannot take in the amounts of food as I did before. There are way too many people on here who have had much success with the band; some easy and fast, some hard and slow. The answer lies within you, how hard will you work for what you want to achieve? Only you know. I wish you much success. Don't give up, persevere and see this to the end. :biggrin:

Can you tell me how many carbs you can consume daily? I'm on my last week of mushies and I was just wondering. I go for my first fill on Monday! I'm excited but also a little nervous~~~my doctor has said nothing about calories or carbs yet.

[health4life 0]

PROTEIN:

Men: 80-100 gm/d

Women: 60 - 80 gm/d

CARBS:

50-60 gm/d

FATS:

4-5 gms per meal

Can you tell me how many carbs you can consume daily? I'm on my last week of mushies and I was just wondering. I go for my first fill on Monday! I'm excited but also a little nervous~~~my doctor has said nothing about calories or carbs yet.

[ThinMinnie 0]

Thanks for posting this information. I just told my husband last night I did not think I was getting enough Protein, I tend to be a lot hungrier when my protein intake decreases. Which makes me crabby :biggrin:

[whippoorwillow 1]

Can I ask what Onederland is?

[*slim* 2]

Can I ask what Onederland is?

It is losing enough weight to be under 200 pounds.

[whippoorwillow 1]

Ah! Thank you so much for clarifying the mystery!

[betrthnever 107]

NewSho, thanks so much for the support. I'm 7 months out and have lost 43 pounds (ok, not so slow but I feel like it is) and need to jump start things. Has anyone else noticed that some of the bad habits try to come back after 6 months? I've been fighting this and so haven't been losing. My battle with sugar seems like a losing one at times but I keep going. Thanks!

[jrob281 1]

NewSho, thanks so much for the support. I'm 7 months out and have lost 43 pounds (ok, not so slow but I feel like it is) and need to jump start things. Has anyone else noticed that some of the bad habits try to come back after 6 months? I've been fighting this and so haven't been losing. My battle with sugar seems like a losing one at times but I keep going. Thanks!

Yes! I used to hate ice cream, until I got pregnant with my now 14 year old. Then I'd go years without eating ice cream. For the past year, I've loved ice cream. I crave ice cream. Ice cream! I've even sabbotaged my weight loss with eating ice cream.

So, in an effort to curb my craving for it, I found having a sugar free popsicle helps TREMENDOUSLY in that area. If one didn't do the trick, I wait about 10 minutes and have another. It works for me.

[Melolo 0]

Wow! Thanks for the tips. I will put this information to good use.